The band Wilco has a beautifully heartfelt song by the name Someone Elses Song. There are various live sets on YouTube but my favorite is the original. Its been a while since Ive felt the pull of melancholia. Years of banging my preverbal head against the wall with insistently dogged thoughts of self-pity, doubt, and general self-criticism have thankfully began to tapper with time. Perhaps there is some wisdom in aging. Yes, some time has passed since I have allowed myself to tread too far into emotional tundra. Its easy to get lost beween the sedges and shrubs. In this landscape mosses collect on the ground and call you to lay for an indefinite stay. It can be quite beautiful in its sparse tranquility. Yet tree growth is scattered and seldom shelter from a windy mind.
My relationship with this landscape has me hang on the songs lyric I keep on trying, I should just let it go with particular intrest. There is a momentum to life. A propulsion much like the planets spinning path that we have no hope to slow. Again age has taught me to see the benefits in these forces. The mind has a rhythm which keeps the world consistent and stable. Its the logic of habit. Without it we would go flying off kilter at the first sign of change. What I am learning is to not resist these forces yet do my best to leave them alone. The mind can begin new trajectories. Plot paths through all the landscapes of emotion. These landscapes can be lush, or baren, rugged, or flat. Yet each informes the other and are necessary in a healthy ecosystem. Where you decide to live or venture to is another matter.
So although the landscape of melancholia is not a terrain anyone would wish to stay in long it brings benefits and gifts to those who appreciate the(or their) emotional diversity. This restless overnight trek though the slightly damp, cold grasses, and lichen has inspired me to share my thoughts and give this Blog another start. I would also truly love to learn to play this on the guitar.
